Gerald, The Mind-Reader

Gerald is a very skilful mind-reader.

He has now established a fair protocol whereby when I wake up every morning, he will be atop one of our cars in the porch. I can see him on the CCTV. He definitely knows I’m awake because I will drink water, use the bathroom, brush my teeth and he will not make a single sound until…I come downstairs.

The moment I step downstairs, he starts mewing nonstop. That’s when I would have to very quickly give him his bowl of food. The morning meal consists of canned food plus raw chicken gizzards. It cannot even contain a hint of Cubgrub or Coco&Joe’s, or he will walk off.

Yes, Gerald is very fussy with his meal plans.

I have tried sneaking in a wee bit of Cubgrub and he walks. But if I quickly scoop back up the Cubgrub, he will forgive me and come back to eat. Phew…

Well, a few days ago I was down and out with the flu. It wasn’t really that bad, but I guess when you are old, even a mild flu would bog you down.

I was down and out and we slept downstairs in the living room.

Sleeping downstairs? Oh dear….how will the protocol change for Gerald now?

Well, on the first day, he was good. He didn’t make any noise until I got up. But now, I didn’t have time to drink water or use the bathroom, I was already downstairs, right? So he started mewing the moment I opened my eyes.

Me being downstairs = Gerald must be fed. Immediately!

Last night was my second night sleeping downstairs. Something happened in the middle of the night. I heard a large truck pass by and a suspicious sound. Worried, I got up and quietly look out at the porch, hoping to find Gerald, but he wasn’t there. I scoured the entire porch, worried about where he might have been and what that sound was. Just when I was about to open the door to go out to search, there he was, coming back from outside!

Phew…what a relief. Gerald was safe and sound. But my pattern had upset his so he started mewing on the window sill. In the still of the night, the mewing was VERY loud.

I tried to quieten him down, but nothing worked. I offered a bowl of kibble, but he didn’t want any.

There was no way to keep him quiet except to ignore him with hopes he would stop. He did.

I am still quite amazed that Gerald knew I had got up to check on him, and he came back from wherever he was to assure me that he was alright.

Amazing mind-reading, right?

Or, maybe he just has a knack of knowing whenever I’m downstairs so he came back even though the timing was all off. Maybe. Whatever it is, the mission was accomplished. I was worried about him and he came back to show me that he was safe.

Thank you, Gerald.

Stay safe in the porch, Gerald.

I still bring him into the house every day, but he doesn’t stay long. Gerald is simply not happy being indoors. It’s not about how big a space he has, it’s the environment. He’s a happy outdoor cat.

Oftentimes, we receive emails from readers or total strangers, seeking advice for their cats. Today, there was once such email from a lady who is treating a sporo cat. The cat used to be a stray too. Because it’s sporotrichosis, she has confined the cat in a cage in her porch to ensure the cat can be medicated until full recovery. However, the cat is unhappy and is yowling till no end whenever he is in the cage. He is only happy when she lets him out to play.

I empathise completely. Vocal cats or yowlers are a challenge. On the upside, at least their yowling tells us that they are mentally unhappy and we can do something about it (as opposed to cats who are totally silent and we don’t have any indication about how they are feeling, emotionally). But the downside is the yowling. That constant loud persistent bellow can take a toll on our mental health as well as that of our neighbours and our other pets.

That was the case with Gerald when we kept him indoors for 35 days. His yowling was so, so exhausting. But now that he is outdoors again, at least there is peace and quiet again. Except for the occasional yowling, which is bearable.

The post Gerald, the mind-reader appeared first on AnimalCare.

Source: https://animalcare.my/2024/08/21/gerald-the-mind-reader/

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